Page, Tracking Dog Excellent!

Yep, you read that correctly. At the ripe old age of 8 months and 3 weeks after passing her TD, Page earned her TDX on her first attempt. The TDX test has a passing rate between 15-19%. While it's my favorite tracking to train, the test is grueling. The test track is 800-1,000 yards long, aged 3-5 hours, between 5-7 turns with obstacles (woods, roads, creeks, fences, etc.) and intentional human cross tracks put in two places 1.5 hours after the initial track is laid.

I think TDX work is my favorite to train, much like Open and Utility are more fun for dog and handler than Novice obedience. Once you've trained a dog in tracking, TD work is "boring" much like Novice obedience is all heeling. TDX work acknowledges the dog knows how to track, but then applies it to all sorts of circumstances. The dog learns to problem solve more, and the handler learns how her dog thinks and solves those problems. I also enjoy being outside in beautiful parks seeing nature and animals, especially in the fall as the leaves are turning and the weather is cool.

Now onto Page's track. If you've been following the blog, you know I taught Page all aspects of tracking from the beginning. She got her first TDX track on May 30, and we have it on video that she handled it very well. After Page certified for her TD at 19 weeks, I concentrated on VST and TDX work, with occasional TD tracks. In September I stopped working VST and stuck with TD and TDX tracks since I knew she had tests coming up. So while many people are shocked an 8-month-old Golden Retriever passed her TDX, Page had been working TDX for months and I knew she could handle the work.

We also made sure she could handle long, test-level tracks because Steve laid us two blind TDX tracks that Page passed. Those tracks were important, especially the last one which was 990 yards long. It told me a lot about how Page would handle the length and stress of an actual test. One important thing I learned is that she is less precise and overshoots turns when she's tired. That knowledge would come in handy!

We entered the White River Golden Retriever Club's annual TDX test. This is my local club, and the site was only 1 hour north of me, so I had tracked there four times. In those four tracks, Page has done her weakest tracking. Only once did I think she tracked well, twice I had to walk her through sections of the track and once we had to end the track at the first article.

This week of training was about two things: confidence building tracks for Page and my mental game. I think confident tracks for Page was more for me than her. I ran a track in a location I knew she tracked well on Tuesday. It was aged 3 hours and 10 minutes but it was only 470 yards. On Thursday my friend laid a TD track, but aged it 3 hours and gave me extra articles to work indications. Page aced these tracks, so I had confidence in her tracking abilities and knew I could read her.

Now for my mental game! I did a LOT of positive visualization this week. I stayed up beat all week and replayed the good tracks Page had run to this point, putting the bad ones out of my mind. I recalled that Page tracks other people very well, and that I'm probably boring for her to track. I even visualized the telephone calls I'd make to Gayle and Lise and the email I'd send to Donna upon our successful track. On the drive to the test, I thanked God for the beautiful weather and my very smart puppy. I laughed and joked with my friends before the test and made sure I had a smile on my face 100% of the time. I found little things to make me laugh. It's hard to be stressed when you are smiling.

Our draw items were adorable little flip flop boxes that had been painted by Janet Ripley with tracking flags, paw prints and a glove. I chose the Raspberry flip flop (for Ms. Raspberry of course) and we drew track 3. This was the same as her TD track, and our tracklayer was Kris Kothe, the same person Devon tracked 2 years ago. I know Kris is a very capable tracklayer, so I was pleased. I hate running the last tracks, so I was thrilled with a fairly early draw.

I didn't really watch the first two dogs, because I lose my focus if I do. The first dog didn't really commit off the start flag and didn't get past the first turn. The second dog made it past the first turn but got sucked into the cross tracks on the second leg. Then it was our turn.

We had to wait 10 minutes before we could run our track since the first two dogs failed so quickly. Seriously, how much small talk can you make with the two judges before you start? Page was ready to go and was barking and wagging her tail whenever anyone looked her way. Finally they told me I could "suit up" and get my dog out and we headed to our flag.

It was a lovely start in a small mowed path with prairie grass on one side and heavy cover on the other. Page saw the flag and made a beeline for it. She paused at the start article and as I got next to her and started to lean down and pick it up, she was off on her track.

So much for giving her some kind of a command! Apparently she was ready and only needed me to drive her to the test and walk her to the startline. It reminded me of a what Donna says about Page's mother, Bizzy. She'll lock on a mark and say, "I got it, Mom! Send me!" Apparently Page didn't wait to be started, she had it!

The first leg was 110 yards. Page showed me loss of scent, and we had heavy cover now on both sides. I turned to my right and saw a really clear path up the hill. But Page checked left, then forward, then left. I figured we'd be there a while.

Page is a footstep tracker, which means she is very meticulous. She worked for a few seconds, then came right to where the track turned and sniffed the ground and you could see her say, "OH! It went THIS way!" And up the hill we went at full speed! Over the hill and we were in a set of woods and now going down hill at full speed.

I've said there's a reason I wanted to do Page's vegetative tracking while she was still less than 50 pounds and I can stay on my feet while she's tracking. Sure enough I got one foot hung up in a limb and about went down face first about the time I saw something black in the leaves in front of us. I kept my feet and felt sure I was looking at Page's first article.

Article indications have been tough for Page. She loves the game of tracking, but feels no reason to stop and show me articles that are right there on the track where I can trip over them. In the last two months I've really insisted on an indication and won't let her track on without one. While I prefer a retrieve of the article, we have finally compromised on Page stopping and standing over the article until I get it (and usually give her a treat). Of course, I was fully prepared for Page to give me no indication and for me to have to fake one for the judges. Bless her heart when she stopped dead (even with all that momentum coming downhill) and gave me an indication for a black hat!

We had 125 yards of that woods, then we broke out of it for a road crossing. Now most people might fear a road as an obstacle, but I was thrilled. Page has been working VST since she was only a few weeks old, so she's very comfortable on non-veg.

In fact during the awards ceremony, judge Ule James said it was very clear Page had worked VST since she actually tracked across the road. Our track angled across the road, and most dogs will square up and jump the road and find the track on the other side. Page actually put her nose on the blacktop and tracked at an angle across the road. It was so cool for the judge to tell everyone how smart she was!

The photos here are two perspectives of our road crossing. One if from the gallery's perspective taken by Susie and Ginger Rezy. The other is a judge's perspective taken by Ule James.

After the road we had 35 yards of veg then a 5 yard walking/biking path then back into vegetation with trees (this second leg was a total of 240 yards).

Toward the end of this leg, Page flicked her head to the left and showed loss of scent. She worked forward and to the right, but also indicated left. As she worked the loss of scent/turn, I could tell she knew the track went left, but as a footstep tracker she couldn't find the new leg and was only catching the scent in the wind.

As she worked, I wanted to back up, because I realized we were past the turn. However with the wind at our back, it was pushing the scent in front of us and to the right so as Page worked the scent cone, she was working away from the actual turn. I couldn't walk backwards because she wasn't going behind me searching for the scent.

It was incredibly frustrating to watch her work and struggle but not be able to help her except by rescenting her. Had I walked backwards I would have been whistled off (failed) for guiding my dog; I had to wait until she worked backwards. I knew she could solve this problem, because she has many times in the past; but the with an 8-12 mph wind working against her, it was a much harder problem to solve.

Finally after more than 10 minutes on this turn she started to solve her problems, working out the scent cone and finally moving backwards. I immediately adjusted to help her and she finally found the track 5 ft. behind me. She had worked 18-20 yards past the turn before she recovered. I don't know what the gallery or judges were thinking, but I had was never so grateful to see her lock into a leg in my life!

Page didn't flinch on her first set of cross tracks, which were on a 120 yard leg in medium cover. She over shot her third turn, but not as badly as the second one (only about 20 ft.) and worked it out quickly. As soon as she committed to the fourth leg, I figured we had the test made.

The judges said she scalloped to the right at the second set of cross tracks. I do remember her going right and readjusting, but I wouldn't have realized it was due to cross tracks. Thirty yards past the cross tracks, she got her next article, a grey wool sock, again with a perfect indication.

The article gave her a second wind. She was off like a shot and I had to leap over a hole and jog to catch up. Page railed her last two turns, and once on the final leg, I was scouring the ground in front of her for the glove.

Page winded the article and was searching for it, finding it before I saw it. She stopped over it and turned back to look at me. I told her she was brilliant over and over until I reached the glove. I put my hand in the air to tell the judges she found it, and then I wrapped my arms around her neck and hugged her, kissed her and cried! We sat on the ground playing tug until the judges and tracklayer got to us. The gallery was pulling their cars up and honking. Once they parked, they came running into the field for more hugs and tears!

Page's track was 850 yards long. It was aged exactly 3 hours. It had 5 turns. Our obstacles were an open woods, road and path. She ran the track in 26 minutes. It was sunny and 65 degrees with a slight (8-12 mph) wind. Page was the only dog out of six total to pass our test. Our judges were Ule James and Steve Ripley.

If you ever get to track for Ule, he carries a camera (you've seen his photos here), and he makes the most incredible maps -- they are to scale! He also writes little notes on them like "got it" for the articles and "good recover" (that was for that second turn) and "good job!" for the cross tracks.

What a wonderful way to earn Page's TDX! We were at our home club with all our tracking buddies. Good friend and mentor Steve Ripley was one of our judges. Good friend, ace tracklayer and artist Janet Ripley made adorable draw items for me to treasure. So many friends who have supported us and laid tracks for us were on hand to race out into the field and give us hugs of congratulations. Susie and Ginger took great photos and made a fun slideshow with perfect captions.

White River held up their expectations for a great post-test pitch in lunch, and I was ravenous! Page enjoyed the cake and Bernie shared the rest of his meatballs and chicken chili with Page. Someone asked me if I was going to stop and give her a hamburger - not after she enjoyed the pitch in and cake!

And did I mention I think I have the greatest puppy in the world!! Boy I love this dog!

Sunday Night Football

It's been a long time since I've just relaxed and watched Sunday night football. Last night seemed like a good night to do that. Page thought so, too. And you can see as the evening went on, she got more and more comfortable and took more and more space on the day bed! Yes, my feet (covered in a black and orange blanket) really are hanging off the day bed in that last photo and holding up Page's head. Poor Devon was curled up on the floor on a doggie bed thinking Page was VERY spoiled!

Tracking: 2 out of 3 ain't bad

In the last three days, Devon and Page have had one bad track and two good tracks. Even though we had one bad track, I'm glad things are moving in the right direction - the good tracks have been the more recent ones!

Friday

I combined TDX tracking training at a state park an hour north with transferring our Belgian Sheepdog rescue to her foster home. It seemed like a good idea at the time, since I'd been planning all week to track there. What I didn't consider was the stress the girls had been under with the rescue dog. Page hadn't been feeling well and had gotten me up the previous two nights to go outside.

The day was perfect for tracking with rain the day before and drizzle that day. The temps were in the mid-60s. The cover was perfect. Due to our travel schedule, the track was 4.5 hours old when we came back to run it. That is older than Page has experienced, but not by much.

However, the wind had picked up and was blowing 15-20 mph. Page worked hard on this track, but chased the scent in circles with the wind. It took her 30 minutes to work about 120 yard down the track. When she found the first article, I ended the track.

I expected her to have worked out the issue with the wind blowing scent from our last track there. It was windier than our previous time tracking there, and I know the wind was a big factor. Page just couldn't lock into the track.

But I think stress was a huge factor, too. Page and Devon both had a big disruption in their routine with a new dog in the house. The rescue wasn't socialized with dogs, so she couldn't be integrated into the pack. Now that she is gone from the house, things are settling back to normal and I think the stress has dissipated.

Saturday

A group of us got together to do VST. With Page not feeling well, I gave her a break and just tracked Devon. Actually, I also got to track Archie, too! Steve was out of town judging a tracking test, so we put a track in for Archie and drew straws for who would run him. I got the privilege!

Archie was easy to run (especially since I laid his track so I knew where it was), but the squirrels and his strength did make it interesting. When Archie locks on and decides to go, he decides to go and you better be hanging on! And he loves to chase squirrels, so when he spied two squirrels playing at the bottom of a tree on the other side of a parking lot, I braced myself. Luckily, he was a good boy and finished his track.

Devon had a lovely track that was about 265 yards and aged 3 hours and 20 minutes. She hasn't tracked in quite a while, and she's been sitting around watching her sister get to track. I think the time off and jealousy were good motivators. She looked fantastic!

Devon started beautifully, which was nice since I really didn't know which way the track went off the start flag. She locked in quickly and pulled me along the first leg and worked the first turn very nicely.

The second leg was also along an office building, and Devon was still dead on the track. This was nice to see because the wind which was around 15 mph was swirling around the building and parking lot. You couldn't tell it by the way Devon was locked onto the track.

Devon worked the non-veg turn very well and finally committed very confidently to the third leg which was a sidewalk along a parking lot. She found her metal article without any problems.

My tracklayer told me the track went on to the grass ahead, and I looked straight in front of me to a patch of grass across a driveway. When we reached the drive, Devon started her transition searching; however I thought her transition searching looked an awfully lot like a turn indication. When Devon committed left onto the grass, I turned to question my tracklayer only to find she'd moved from behind me to my right ... then I heard her say, "She's dead on the track."

Well it's a good thing my dog knew where the track was, because obviously I was clueless! I thought it went straight in front of us! Two more articles, and Devon was done and very proud of herself. She should have been. It was a beautiful track, and she even proved halfway through it she wasn't feeling well either!

Sunday

Both girls had to be fasted for 24 hours and put on chicken and rice this weekend. Either it's stress or mushrooms in the backyard or a combination of everything. They don't seem to mind the chicken and rice (good thing I have a great rice cooker and split chicken breasts were on sale this week).

Page is feeling much better, so I decided to give her a confidence building track this afternoon. It's been a beautiful fall day with clear sunny skies, high wispy clouds and the trees are in my favorite period with lots of oranges and reds.

I laid a short 435-yard TDX track in my favorite place at a nearby metropark. After I put it in, I ran an errand to a nearby library, so the track only aged 40 minutes before Page ran it. It's a good thing I didn't run it any fresher, or Page would have killed me in that cover and in those woods! I've never had her pull so hard on a TDX track before!

Page flew through this track in about 10 minutes, including getting her line wrapped around a thorn bush that took me a couple of minutes to disentangle. She stopped at her articles, but I had to make her sit or lay down. I've never seen her track woods so fast or so confidently. I'm glad I ran this track, because it gave both of us our confidence back!

So, two out of three good tracks isn't bad for a weekend's training. We're supposed to have some good weather this week, so I think we'll get back out and do more in the coming days now that both girls are feeling better.

Devon's 5-star day

For the last two months, Devon has been "Library Dog" every Thursday evening. Her duties include wagging her tail and asking for pets from anyone she comes in contact with, and listening to children read. Some weeks we have a dozen or more kids who come to see her, and other weeks it's light and only one or two kids come by.

This week, Devon played hostess to 8 children, with six of them staying the entire hour! The kids read to her, petted her and did craft projects. Devon even got to say hello to an almost 1-year-old girl who walked up to Devon and grabbed her muzzle to look up to her. I was so amazed by Devon's reaction to this very little girl. She was very gentle and even laid down to give the little girl a better advantage for petting her.

The highlight of the evening was when the kids came over to present some craft projects to Devon. The kids laughed and cheered when Devon took their projects in her mouth and brought them to me. Devon was even presented with a paper airplane! The kids loved her "tricks" so much, one presented her with a star on her forehead. And since there were five colors of stars, Devon had to do four more tricks to earn a star in every color.

The photo here shows a very tired Devon ready to leave the library with her 5 stars on her head and carrying her new paper airplane. I told her she looked like Wonder Woman! Devon wore her stars proudly the rest of the evening. I found one on the kitchen floor, one was in Page's fur, another ended up on my shoulder and the other two were lost outside in the dark. The Library Dog slept very well Thursday evening!

How to save a (dog's) life

This week, we have had a new experience. On Tuesday, I got a Belgian Sheepdog out of a local shelter on behalf of Belgian Sheepdog Rescue Trust. She is 14 months old, and she is staying until Friday morning when I take her north where she will be fostered.

Ultimately, it's the wonderful people in animal shelters and animal control offices that save these dog's lives. In this case, it was a special animal control officer who in spite of all the information given to her didn't want to put a dog down.

The family told her the dog was snapping and biting them and she was vicious. When she arrived, she was in a muzzle, barking and snarling and spitting. But the animal control officer took her in after the family surrendered her and evaluated her. Even when the dog's initial reaction was to try and bite the officer, no one gave up on her. Instead, the officer started trying to find a Belgian Sheepdog rescue group.

Three days later, I met a different dog. I met a Belgian Sheepdog that was wary of people she didn't know, but who trusted those she had met just 24 to 72 hours earlier. She wagged her tail, she took food and she allowed them to love her. Within 10 minutes, she even came up to me and sniffed me.

By the time I picked her up on Tuesday, she was wagging and accepting and eagerly taking treats and greeting people. She has been a gem to have around the house, even though she's not socialized with other dogs. She is learning Goldens are pretty neat while safe in a crate or on the other side of a baby gate, but she's still not ready to be loose with other dogs.

This girl is going to make someone a really nice pet. She's loyal and loves people. She's free with licks and tail wags, and all she wants is someone to love and protect her.

I know I'm not cut out to work with rescues full time. My Belgian Tervuren Cammie taught me that years ago when I rescued her. I gave her everything I could, and in the end it still wasn't enough.

But this week my little Belgian Sheepdog gem has reminded me that everyone in the dog training community needs to give back to the dogs we love. We need to donate time or money to our rescue groups. If we get that phone call out of the blue, we need to return it and do what is being asked of us - or do more.

We have years of dog training and dog behavior experience to offer rescue groups. We know what stress looks like and we know how to get through it (good treats, redirecting behavior). We know our dog's behaviors and the quirks our breeds have. In this case, the family should have never owned a Belgian Sheepdog. Out of ignorance, they did so much damage. We have video cameras, and we know how to tape dogs. I had no idea how grabbing my video camera and taping a dog at a shelter would tell the rescue evaluators far more than a still photo would. We know dogs, and rescue groups need our expertise. And we need to give back to our dogs.

In the end when I transfer this beautiful Belgian Sheepdog tomorrow she will take a little piece of my heart. It's right there next to the piece the animal control officer gave her. But those little pieces of our hearts told her that humans can be trusted again. That she doesn't have to control her world; humans are supposed to do that for her. And humans are supposed to love her. And someday really soon, she'll find that love in her forever home.

A tough TDX track for Page

On Tuesday, Steve put in a tough TDX track for Ms. Page. He did it at my request, because I wanted to see how Page would run another blind TDX track (this was her second). The track was a total of 990 yards. It was aged 3 hours and had cross-tracks (thanks to Janet). The track had four obstacles, three road crossings and about 230 yards and a turn in a woods.

Page did a really nice job with this track. She did have her problems, but she was able to work them out. She blew past the second turn, which was an open turn into the woods. However, she did check up on her own and work back on her own to find the track into the woods.

In the woods, she worked very hard, investigating lots of scents. She either got spooked by something or stepped on something and was shaking a front paw. After stopping to examine it and finding nothing wrong, she continued tracking.

Page tracked true enough for me to see the article in the woods, but she didn't indicate it until I made her. She tracked on and again got spooked by a branch "getting her" in the rear. The problem was, she had to work past that branch to make her turn and get out of the woods. She handled that well and worked out of the woods and through some heavy cover back into medium cover.

Once out of the woods, she indicated her second article with a nose touch and then moved on. Well, at least it was an indication! The first road crossing was done easily, but just after that road crossing and turn, I noticed Page start to fade with fatigue. She had burned a lot of energy out in the woods, and she had gone 595 yards. This was where the test really began for Page. Did she have the stamina to finish the track?

Page worked the next road crossing just fine and didn't hesitate at the first set of cross tracks. She did flick her head right on the second set of cross tracks and she went past the next turn. I did see her curve toward the new leg, but she then tracked on. When she wasn't confident and worked backwards, I told Steve where I thought the turn was by her initial indication and he said I was right.

This is where Page's fatigue showed: she was less precise on her turns. The thing I was thrilled about was even though she was tired and it was hard, she never gave up. She continued to work that track hard. I bet the only way she would have stopped was if I had walked her off the track.

Going into the last road crossing, I told Steve I thought she was left of the track by what her body posture told me. Steve said I was correct. Page blew well past the last turn, but worked her way back to it and found the final glove. When she did, she put her front feet on it, nose touched it and then sat. A very nice indication for an exhausted tracking dog.

It was a tough track for an 8-month-old pup; but it was exactly what we need and asked for and it really showed me what she had in her. I was very proud of her work ethic, and my ability to read her. What a good, honest tracking dog I have!

Page, Tracking Dog!

Page earned her TD Sunday morning, the day after turning 8 months old. Page earned her TD at the Youngstown All Breed Tracking Club's Tracking Test under judges Debra Huff and Marilyn Johnson. It was a beautiful morning. According to weather.com, it was 33 degrees, mostly sunny, 82% humidity with a calm wind.

Page's track (pictured here to scale) was 465 yards long and aged 44 minutes. The legs were 140 yards, 50 yards, 115 yards, 50 yards, and 110 yards. The track was in a soybean field (dead, ready-to-harvest soybeans in dirt/mud with the dew). I was concerned with the lack of living vegetation on this track; but if any dog could do it, it was Page. She's been working TDX in woods and various cover, plus the non-veg VST tracks.

There were four tracks at this test, with two being in soybeans and two in alfalfa. A Cocker Spaniel drew the first track and did a lovely job. After initially tracking over the glove, dog and handler worked back to it and found it for a pass. A Field Spaniel drew track 2. This was the dog and handler's first tracking test. They did a lovely job until the dog went right instead of left on the last turn. A truly heartbreaking failure being so close to the glove. However, when the Field Spaniel did so well on this track, I was confident Page and I would handle the soybeans well, too. The fourth track went to a lovely little Border Collie who passed easily and quickly. Unfortunately I didn't get to see any of the track due to finishing my track and the rolling terrain.

The second track had just finished, and the judges called for me to move up to my track. We all had to move our cars to see the 3rd and 4th tracks. I pulled up first to get my dog out; the rest of the gallery followed.

We had to battle up an 8 ft. slope to get to our field and start flag. It was a quiet start since just the judges and the tracklayer were there. Our start article was a sock. Page ran quickly to the article and stopped over it until I picked it up and told her to "Track."

When I released her she was off like a shot in a straight line towards the 30 yard flag. I stood and waited for the 20 ft. knot in my line to pass through my hands before I followed her and it came way too quick. I realized my line had gotten a knot in it as I had dropped it at the start (I made sure it was straight twice before we got to the flag). Darn, I hate knots in my lines! They're distracting!

Page was tracking fast and straight as we approached the 30 yard flag, and she didn't miss a beat when she suddenly raised up and jumped 6 ft. in the air trying to rip the flag off the flagpole! Before I could react, she gave it a second attempt. What a devil! As I was chuckling, I said, "leave it and track!" Page stopped, turned and gave me a whithering look over her shoulder as if to say, "Geez, mom, you are no fun at all!" then dropped her head and tracked on.

As we reached approximately 90 yards, I was preparing for a turn any time. I absolutely didn't want to take this track or my dog for granted. We'd been tracking in a row of soybeans and I couldn't see a track at all. Suddenly, Page's head came up and back down. Then she lifted it up and flicked it to the left then back down. Was that a turn indication? I glanced to my left and saw a path through the beans next to me. Was that our turn?

Page's head came up again, and I slowed. She slowed. We both stopped. Ok, this must be the turn. Page turned and came back to me. Oh no, she had to have been past the turn! Page never comes back at me unless we're really past the turn. I backed up 2-3 steps. Page came back to me and stood next to me on my left and looked up at me. She's only done that one other time after she pottied on the track. Hummmm, what was going on?

I very calmly said, "Are we tracking?" Page's reaction was quick and told me firmly, "Yes, we are!" She trotted confidently out in front of me again, dropped her head and plowed forward (just like she'd done the one other time this happened). I followed; always trust your dog. I figured we'd either just blown past the turn badly or she was 100% right and that wasn't the turn.

When I heard no whistle, I knew my dog was correct. Another 40 yards and she gave me her traditional loss of scent/turn indication and easily found the next leg. In thinking through what happened, I remember Page occasionally lifts her head when tracking when she's very confident of where the track is. Steve suggested she had a nose full of scent and was just trying to clear her head a little. It appears to me she's very confident and just wants to take in the scenery a little!

I was so worried about missing that first turn, I took what she did as a turn indication and slowed, causing her to think we were stopping. This was just "test nerves" and me being too vigilant. It was a good lesson that I don't have to over handle my dog. She knows what she's doing and I just have to trust her.

The rest of the track was uneventful with Page tracking very strongly until the last turn. I expected when we crossed the rows I'd see the track more clearly, but I really couldn't. It's a good thing I trust my dog and she's a great tracker.

As we were on the fourth leg, I saw we were coming to the edge of a field. I wasn't sure how far we'd come, but I was looking for a glove any time. When Page indicated a turn, I wasn't surprised. She indicated left, but not as strong as her other turns. I looked left and saw a wider path up a row. This was back toward the road, so it made the most sense the track would turn left. However, I needed to trust my dog so I waited her out.

Page checked right and then went left again, but she still wasn't on that path I spied and she wasn't pulling me around the corner. I waited, but she stayed where she was and really wasn't pulling. I gave her a step figuring if this was correct she'd move forward and then hop on that path. She did move forward, but continued to the right of what I thought was the track.

Page got more confident as we went, but she was still right of what I thought was the track. Then she hopped another couple of rows to the right. I had a split second of doubt where I thought she was off the track. There was no way the track angled right, because it was angling out of the field and that didn't make sense.

But Page was so confident, I let go of my doubt. Trust your dog, not your eyes. How many times has a handler's eyes and mind failed a dog at a tracking test? I didn't want to do that to Page. I followed, and I was searching the ground around her for a glove. We had to be close to the end! With her weak article indications and the first dog who tracked over the glove, I didn't want to come this far and miss that glove!

As I was looking out at Page, we came over a small rise, and something light colored caught my attention right above Page's head. It was a light colored fence post and it was directly in front of Page in the distance. That gave me every confidence Page was correct in her path. I've laid enough tracks that I can pick out the obvious landmarks tracklayers and judges use.

A few more yards and Page pulled up. I could see she had her two front feet on a brown cloth glove. She pushed at it with her nose, and her tail started to wag. I just stood there for a couple of seconds and took in the sight of my beautiful puppy indicating her glove on her titling TD track. I want to keep that moment in my mind forever! That slight pause was enough for Page to drop onto the glove and look over her shoulder at me. Her face said, "Look, Mom! I found it and I even dropped!" She was proud of herself!

I let out a big good girl and yelled back to the judges she found the glove! I told Page how brilliant she was and waved the glove in the air. Page and even celebrated that glove with a game of tug. The gallery was still beyond a small ridge and couldn't see us, but we got great congratulations from the tracklayer and judges. I never did get the name of our tracklayer, but he was very, very nice and I appreciated his time that morning. Tracklayers work hard at tests, and I know they want their dogs to pass very badly.

All three remarked that Page was a solid tracker and did an outstanding job. Debra Huff told me I did a good job of handling. She said she knew I didn't believe Page on the last turn, but I was a good handler and trusted my dog and went with her. I accepted the compliment. I'm disappointed I didn't trust Page right away, but I appreciated that I came through for her and the judge recognized it.

In thinking through that last turn, I think I was in "training mode" and wanting Page to pull me around each corner like I expect in training. In a test, I know indications are going to weaken, especially as the adrenaline bleeds off and the track goes on. Page gave me two very solid indications on that turn, and I should have stepped in behind her faster than I did to give her the confidence she's correct and I trust her. That's a good lesson learned for our TDX work.

So Page's first AKC title was an enjoyable event. Three of the four dogs passed, which is a good pass rate for a TD test. The people were very, very nice and the judges laid good tracks. Friend and AKC Tracking Judge Rosemary Janoch even came by to support us and another team. It was good to see her and her new puppy, destined to become another great performance dog (he's very cute, too!). And best of all I learned a lot about me and my dog in our first test - most importantly I learned she's a great dog and I have to trust our training! It's solid!